Eat Drink Run Woman

Looking over last quarter’s training schedule I realize I’d been a bit of a slacker. Normally my training includes two days of faster runs during the week (for 30-45 minutes each day) with a long, slow run on the weekend. While I was diligent about getting my long runs in, I was quite lackadaisical about my mid-week runs. During the five weeks leading up to the Mercer Island half, I only ran one day during the week, and that was the Wednesday just before the race. Mind you, I still went to my cardio and spinning classes (and got in a few laps at the pool), but running? I couldn’t be bothered.

I’m sure the weather had a lot to do with it. I’m typically pretty wiped after spending all day on my feet cooking, so exercise isn’t typically at the top of my list of things to do when I get home. Add in the cold, the dark, the rain, and my resolve plummets to nil. But now spring is here and I have no more excuses.

Although the day started out cold (it even snowed just north of here), it was a glorious sunny day — perfect weather to get me in the mood for running. I had a relatively quick cook date and was home by 3:30. It’s been a while since I’ve run a measured route (lately my runs have been by time, not mileage), so I decided to head over to Greenlake for a couple of laps around the inside loop (5.6 miles). Because I’ve been running a slower pace due to the run/walk program, I thought I’d try to go all out. I looked at my list of PBs and saw that my best time for the 5.6 mile Greenlake run was 50 minutes, 5 seconds, set over a year ago. (I think I can, I think I can).

To make it more interesting (and to help spur me on), I came up with the following challenge: for every 5 seconds over my PB I had to do 10 minutes of housework. As you can see in the photo above, housework — especially when it comes to my office — is not my forte. I will do anything to avoid it. (Let me clarify — we’re talking clutter; when it comes to things smelling bad I’m all over it!) However, should I run a new personal best, then I could sit on the couch and eat bonbons (okay, so maybe baked tortilla chips and homemade salsa; what the heck ARE bonbons anyway?)

With “Enter Sandman” blaring in my ears I took off at a breakneck pace. Normally I ease into a run, but dammit, I had my goal to meet. I pushed on, finishing the first lap in 23 min., 48 seconds (not a PB for one lap, but close). I figured I could slow down the pace — just a tad — and still meet my goal. My darling swung by on his bike to cheer me on (he still has to take a couple of weeks off from running), letting me know I was looking strong. At the end I had to walk several paces to catch my breath before I could even look at my stopwatch (it definitely wasn’t an easy run), but I was thrilled to see I beat my PB by a minute and a half! HALLELUJAH! No housework for me! (Although my darling did say if I barfed up a lung then I’d be responsible for cleaning it up).